Appreciation
by crazy-n-insane
Summary: Takes place when the host club is at the beach and haruhi saves the girls. What may have happened and said in the room. Contains a spoiler if you haven't watched the anime don't remember which episode .


**Haruhi's POV**

Haruhi was seething in anger!

'Who does he think he is to tell me to admit I was wrong? What did I do that was so very horrible, it warrants an apology? All I tried to do was save those girls and if he really cared...shouldn't he have been looking at me and noticing that I was gone, even if only for a few seconds.' She kicked the wall in frustration, needing something to get her mind off the anger.

Turning around at a corner, she saw in her mind's eye the whole situation repeating itself in front of her, in fast motion. She was standing a bit further away from the group, just enjoying the waves and their soft lull when she heard two girls shouting. Her feelings taking control, she ran to them, adrenaline pumping in her veins. As soon as she reached, she motioned to the girls to go away, hoping her disguise would buy some time.

It did. But the two guys felt like they had wrongfully lost to a scrawny guy, and proceeded to get their rights out of her, not knowing how frail she truly was. A semi-hard push made her loose her balance and fall of the ledge in the water. But she hadn't been scared. She was just glad that she had managed to help the girls. By then, Tamaki had noticed her absence. She had seen him run towards her, but it was too late. For she had already fallen. Without any hesitation, he jumped in after her, holding her in his arms as soon as he caught up with her. But, even if he hadn't gotten to her, she would have survived. Buoyancy would have gotten her to the surface in less than five minutes, and she wouldn't have died in that short a time. But, he saved her and the twins beat the two boys who were frightening the girls up.

When she had regained consciousness, Tamaki shouted at her. He expressed his fear in anger. He was angry that she hadn't gone to them and told the guys of the situation, preferring to handle it all by herself. He was angry that she thought, she could be stronger than the two guys. He was angry at the lack of self-care and self-preservation she had. And his words hurt her. Haruhi was pained, but she was also angry. Hurt, because she cared what he thought of her. And angry, because she knew, to him, she was wrong. But she had been brought up differently and did not see any fault in her actions.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Haruhi finally found a room with a toilet. Her stomach catching up to her thoughts, she rapidly emptied the contents of her stomach and when she was done, washed her mouth and gurgled, willing the taste of the vomit out her mouth. Satisfied, she exited the room only to find herself face to face with Kyoya.

Kyoya was a decent guy, in her opinion. A bit evasive and preferring to hide his true self through woven lies but very decent. Looking up at him, she said, "Sorry, this was the first place I found." Kyoya looked at her before responding, "It's fine."

**Kyoya's POV**

Kyoya was thoughtful. Haruhi was undoubtedly smart and observant, but sometimes, she failed to notice the simplest of things. He tolerated her, even when she was not profitable to him, and that was something. It was like saying that he liked her company as a friend, were he another person. With that in mind, he wanted her to realize that despite dressing up as a boy and being an active participant in the school's host club, she was, in fact, a girl. And as a girl, she needed to become aware of the fact that not all guys would take it easy on her.

In a swift motion, he had her on the bed and was standing above her, her legs between his and her nightgown spread on the bed sheets. "Do you have any idea how simple that was?" he watched her expression carefully. "What is stopping me from doing something to you right now?" He hadn't wanted it to get any further. He simply wanted her to understand the reactions of the people who were around her today. He knew she knew they were worried about her, but she did not understand why. That much was clear.

He watched as Haruhi appeared to be unaffected by his actions. And her words just set his doubts in stone, although it amused him how insightful she was at that moment. She'd said, "You wouldn't do anything to me. There is simply no profit to be gained from it." He smirked slightly at her words. However, at that moment, Tamaki chose to enter his room. Noticing his expression, Kyoya decided that Tamaki may yet be more successful in putting some sense into Haruhi. "I was just leaving" he answered Tamaki's unasked question. Standing up, he grabbed his shirt and walked out of the room. Tamaki was always more charismatic, more sympathetic and more able to relate to others than he ever could.

**Haruhi's POV**

Watching Kyoya leave the room and Tamaki remain, flared her anger, although admittedly, it was much lower. That was probably the result of Kyoya's behavior. Pushing herself into a sitting positions, she righted her ruffled sleeves before making an action to push herself off the bed. She was starting to feel guilty for worrying them, but she still felt that what she had done was right. But that was not what Tamaki wanted. He wanted her to understand the risks she put herself into when he believed that they were right there to do otherwise. But, had she called out to them, they may have been too late, and no guy would do anything to another guy. At least, not the same kind of actions they would do to harass a girl and in their eyes, she was a guy.

The storm outside raged and she wanted to get away from Tamaki now, her fear now overriding her anger. She said sharply, "There was nothing going on...and Kyoya would not do that" she answered the question which would leave his mouth in a moment. "Please move." He stayed standing in her path, his confusion and worry shining brightly in his eyes. "Why?" He said quietly. "Why can't you see that what you did was wrong? Couldn't you have shouted for help while running towards them? Couldn't you depend on us to do the right thing and to save those girls? Or did you want to be a hero?" His words were laced with desperation, and as he ended, his voice dipped. "Is it so hard to depend on someone else for once?"

Haruhi stared at him for an immeasurable period of time before seeing the light flickering in the hallway from the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. Her fear started seeping into her pores again and wanting to quickly run away to a dark space, she looked straight into Tamaki's eyes and said, "Why would I want to do that? You know better than a lot of people what my childhood was like. Dead mother, a father who is almost never home and when he is, is a person who aches for some food and a warm bed. As a child, I wanted many things, but as myself, I realized that I couldn't put any extra load on my dad's shoulder's. I needed to be independent in order to care for my self and my father."

Seeing Tamaki about to say something, she responded before he could, answering the expression on his face, "And don't you dare tell me that I can depend on you guys. Because you and I both know very well that we live in different classes and after school is over, the probability of us spending time together is very small. And I don't want to learn to depend on someone only to have that luxury taken away from me when we separate, since, by then, I will no longer be able to depend on myself and will need someone besides me, to take care of me and I refuse to be a bother to someone in that manner."

Tamaki's expression this time was unreadable. After a moment of silence, he went over to Haruhi and gently put his arms around her shoulder's and pulled her towards him, his grip tight but not painful. Haruhi did not struggle, having expended the last of her energy on her speech. She just stood there, enjoying his warmth unconsciously while refraining from any thought.

Just then, the lights of the room flickered and thunder rumbled loudly. Screaming loudly, she squeezed her eyes shut, threw her arms around Tamaki's body and cried silently. With an effort, she pushed herself off of him, and ran to the closet, slamming the door shut and putting both hands on her ears. But Tamaki did not let her stay there for long. He himself, walked over to the closet, opened the door, and pulled Haruhi outside. Pulling her into his arms once more, he gently rubbed her back, talking softly trying to calm her down as his mind processed the situation. As understanding dawned on him, he felt ashamed of his actions and concerned for the girl he held in his arms. How often had she hidden in a dark corner during storms, just because no one was home. How often had she been forced to depend on herself in order to survive. How often had she had to consciously stay a fixed distance away from people because of her reluctance to depend on others. Tamaki understood but he disliked it. He vowed to himself to make her break free of her shell, bit by bit, as soon as he could. But at the moment, he just concentrated on getting her to clam down and even devised a way help her get through this by herself, when he could not be there for her.

Talking loudly, trying to overcome the sound of the thunder, he voiced his opinion on the vast majority of topics he knew she would find utterly useless and boring. But he was trying to make her laugh, and even if she usually didn't enjoy his close proximity and his loud voice in her ears, she appreciated it. Within the next hour, Haruhi was blind-folded, wore a grin on her face and her hands tightly grasped Tamaki's own. "So, you claim that if I can get myself in a quiet spot, destroy my hearing ability by listening to loud music and somehow blindfolding myself, I will live a happier and more cheerful life" she was sarcastic even though her voice retained a certain level of her usual monotone voice. And ignoring her sarcasm, Tamaki excitedly nodded and she knew that by the vibrations of his hands and his following words, "Most definitely! I can even find a theory to prove it. And if no one thought of this before, I shall put it forward TO THE WORLD!" his voice was happy and that made Haruhi laugh.

Pleased by the result of his actions, Tamaki finally said, "And you didn't even notice that the storm ended." Removing the blindfold, he turned serious, "I understand why you did that and I don't want you to apologize any more but could you please, think about how we would feel next time. You are a dear person to my heart and I fear that I may lose you even if I don't show it. Please." his voice turned pleading. Haruhi just stared at him. When the silence was about to take an awkward tone, Kyoya, Hikaru and Kaoru slammed the door of the room open, with Hikaru shouting, "We are finally here! I know..." his voice cut off just then, as he took in the sight in front of him. Haruhi kneeling on the floor, Tamaki hovering over her a blind fold in his hands and Haruhi staring at up at Tamaki. "You pervert! I knew we shouldn't have left you alone with Haruhi! Soiling her mind with your perverse ideas!"

Playing along, Haruhi said, her montone voice bland, "Ah, so that is what you were doing. Pervert." Saying that, she stood up and walked to the boys who had entered the room, "Let's go" ignoring Tamaki's loud protests coming from the room. She appreciated what Tamaki had said and was thankful he had stayed with her, but he needn't know that. Grinning, she hurried with the small group, heading towards the living room for a late night gathering.


End file.
